tence; first to give a command to man, to pronounce death upon him if he broke my command, next to give wisdom to the serpent, and make him a mouth and voice to betray, and then to pronounce a curse upon him for the very thing that I myself had done in him. So marvel not in thy heart of any thing he hath condemned thee with, or the Spirit that visits thee; because, I tell thee, it is a thing impossible for any being to be made worse, or condemned with more cruelty, more injustice, art, and deceit, than he hath condemned his Creator, in the beginning; for then my curse upon the serpent must be for doing the thing that I myself had done in him; and to man I must act deceitfully with him, and gave him a command with a design to betray. Then I ask thee what salvation any man can depend upon, from such a God as he hath represented? What dependence, or what trust of his justice, mercy, and truth, can he rely upon from such a God, who betrayed man in the beginning, and then cast the blame upon him for being betrayed; who spoke in the serpent to act with deceit, and then pronounced a curse upon him through hypocrisy, to screen that deceit from the man, that he might not know the Lord had done it? I tell thee, he judges God to be another such as himself.

Here thou sayest, my answers are harsh; but I tell thee, it is the perfect judgment he must have drawn of his Creator, in the beginning; then what trust can be put in such a God, to be saved by him? Now I shall answer his own words. It is the old serpent, called the devil, who is the God of this world, that hath blinded his eyes, and hardened his heart against his Creator, whom he must judge will be angry with him, if he casts the blame on the devil, to use the subtlety and art to betray in the beginning. And I shall

answer thee farther, from his saying, if it was meant the devil, he must go on his belly as the serpent does. To this folly I shall answer; the shadow was to the serpent, as it was in that form the devil betrayed; but the substance is in him, that in the end I shall cut off his power, to have no more footing upon the earth, than the serpent had feet to walk upon. But I now tell thee, like his judgment of the creation and the fall, mockers and despisers of the scriptures have drawn theirs, to bring them into contempt; and it is through hypocrisy, with the subtlety of Satan, that he hath made any profession, that it is for the honour and glory of God, that he is now come forward to write against my visitation to thee; therefore let him boast no more, that he is speaking for the glory of God, or the good of mankind, in what he is now coming forward to do; for an atheist, that denieth the scriptures, doth not dishonour God as he hath done; but was I to demand of him what he judges of his Creator, in the beginning, from what he hath asserted concerning the fall, what answer could I receive Thou answerest thou canst not tell, without he answers, it is to free the devil, that he hath drawn such judgment: and to free the devil such judgment is drawn, to cast the blame on the Creator; for in one likeness as he began to condemn his Creator, just so he hath went on. Let his words appear."

Hann, in his letter to the bishop, condemns me for saying, the word of God is as a book that is sealed, so that neither the learned nor the unlearned can read, (that is to say understand it.) These are his words.

"Whoever believes this doctrine, my Lord, is an infidel; for infidelity is a belief, that the scriptures do not contain the revealed will of God; which they cannot do, if the bible is a

sealed book; for to be sealed and revealed is a manifest contradiction. But the doctrine, my

Lord, is also big with blasphemous reflections on the wisdom of the Deity; for it must be very absurd for God to have the scriptures written, if none could understand them. The absurdity therefore and blasphemy of this doctrine deserves the severest treatment. This, my Lord, is not destroying the word of God by piece-meal, but is laying the axe at the root of the tree. In a late publication, Joanna complains, with much pretended concern, against a certain society, for expunging from the bible certain parts of it. But, however just and commendable such a complaint may be in christians, it is in infidels notorious hypocrisy; for, while those are only pruning the tree, these are destroying it root and branch. And this is done by every one who says, or believes the bible is a sealed book. This is not all; Joanna, in saying the bible is a sealed book, is much worse than an open infidel; for while he reflects only on the blindness of man, she casts au odium on the Deity, and indirectly charges him with the greatest absurdity."

After the above was brought to me, I was ordered to write to Hann, and to point out dif ferent passages of scripture, and demand his explanation of them. A friend of mine carried the letter to Hann; and, in conversation on the bible, he pointed out a passage therein, and asked him to explain it. Hann said he could not; he did not understand the meaning himself; but others might. My friend desired he would tell him of any person likely to explain it. Hann answered, that he did not understand it himself; neither did he know any one that did. Three weeks after, my friend called upon Hann again, for his answer to my letter. He said, it was not ready; but he would read to him as far as he had gone.

It contained very little else but a repetition of things he formerly asserted; and my friend told Hann, that that was not what was wanted: his opinions and assertions were nothing; it was his answer to the scriptures that was demanded. He replied, that he did not did not understand them; neither would he give any answer to them.

THE ANSWER OF THE SPIRIT.

"Now, from his answer, he hath acknowledged, that he cannot understand the scriptures; and to try and prove, that he went on to condemn ME, I ordered thee to make a demand of him, to know, whether he could explain the scriptures, or whether he condemned God with absurdity. Now, as he hath owned, that he cannot do the one, he must acknowledge he hath condemned God with the other; for after the manner of his words is my speaking to thee. And now out of his own mouth will I condemn him, that it is he and not thee, that is cutting off the scriptures root and branch; because the root of the scriptures is in the beginning, when I laid the foundation of the earth, and created man in it.

Know what I said to Cain, after the fall: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and, if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. Here was the root in the beginning, that I laid for man; but this Hann hath cut off, and laid the axe to the root, that the Creator of man was the root of the evil, and from that root the evil branches sprang, which he is now cutting off, as all to be evil, that proceed from God. Then now I ask thee, where a man like him will fly, to find mercy, justice, or truth? For, in a judgment like his, the evil must come from the Lord, Therefore he hath turned the things upside down: he hath put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter: he hath called good evil, and evil good but

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what will such a man do in the end, if he do not repent before it is too late? Can he expect to find mercy or favour with a God he hath so disgraced, so dishonoured, and wrongfully condemned? Therefore marvel not in thy heart at any artful invention, or subtlety of working, that he hath brought round to condemn my visitation to thee; because, from his own words, he hath condemned the Lord throughout the scriptures; calling it absurd in the Lord, from the manner they are revealed; for he owns that he cannot explain them; neither can he point out a man to do it. Therefore his words I shall turn back upon his own head, that he is much worse than an open infidel, to cast an odium on the Deity, and indirectly charge God with the greatest absurdity, from the manner the scriptures are revealed, as he allows they are sealed up from his knowledge to understand them; and thou knowest from the learned, that they have owned they are beyond the understanding of men. But dost thou marvel that a man like him should come forward to condemn thee, when he hath with such blasphemy condemned ME? But this proves the truth of my words to thee, that the rage of hell is bursting in man ; and therefore I ordered thee to contend with the powers of darkness, and pen his words against the Lord; for I well knew thou wouldest see his fury break out in that likeness, in men that he could gain to join with him; but all will find, in the end, that that old serpent was the devil, who tempted Eve in that form; and he well knew there was a curse pronounced against him; therefore it is said in the Gospel, when I became flesh and dwelt amongst men, and cast out devils, as a type and shadow of the end, they knew that a time would come, when they should receive their punishment, as well as man; and therefore they answered, Art thou come to torment us before